The Hotel

Habaneras Festival in Calella de Palafrugell

Every year during the first Saturday of July Calella de Palafrugell turns into the capital of Habaneras.
This festival has its origins in 1966 when singers met for the first time at the tavern of Can Batlle. The founders Francesc Alsius, Frederic Martí and Joan Pericot have been turning this festival into the benchmark of its kind in Catalonia and in one of Habanera’s most important festivals in Spain.
A devoted audience, around 40.000 people, listen on the beach and under the moonlight to the so-called genre “ there and back”, which has its origins in the 19th century on sailors and migrants returning to Cuba. They sang with nostalgia the memories of their motherland.
The purest version is interpreted a cappella, although at present it is also usual to accompany it with guitars and lutes. The Habaneras are written in compass of two-four beat and with slow tempo.
This year the Habaneras festival in Calella de Palafrugell will take place from July 6th until July 8th.